Due to the Clean Air Act, the EPA will be proposing a series of public health protections this year, including boiler MACT, which is intended to limit hazardous air pollutants, or air toxics. The boiler MACT (maximum available control technology) protection will cut down on emissions of air toxics like mercury, arsenic, lead, dioxin, and acid gases.
How? It basically means that all of our dirty ol' powerplants will need to install equipment to match the best-performing and cleanest plants for each type of pollutant. Existing power plants will have more time to meet the standard—taking into account available technologies and cost.
To be clear: mercury is a neurotoxin. It can cause central nervous system damage. It is the reason for which many lakes and rivers have warnings about eating the fish, and why pregnant women are advised not to eat any seafood at all.
Of course, some people don't think the EPA should exist, or enforce the Clean Air Act, blah blah blah. Well, forget them. We need this. And we need to show that we want the EPA to do its job.
Get Active. Sign up to be a Texas Healthkeeper.
But why should Texans care?
One teaspoon of mercury is sufficient to contaminate a 20-acre lake. Our lakes.
But we'll let these pictures do the talking: it's probably worth a thousand words.
From Environment Texas.
From Environment Texas.
From Environment Texas.
Ready to protect our Texas rivers, our land, and most importantly, our health?
Join us!
Get Active. Sign up to be a Texas Healthkeeper.
Flavia de la Fuente
Conservation Organizer
Related articles
- Republican Budget Launches Sneak Attacks on Clean Air Protections (switchboard.nrdc.org)
- Court Admits Blame for Med-Waste Incinerator Confusion (nytimes.com)
- Boiler Battle (pubs.acs.org)
- Why Mercury is a Problem (sierraclub.typepad.com)
- EPA Seeks to Delay Controversial Air Pollution Rules for Boilers (nytimes.com)
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